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Part 3 of 5 weeks in Vietnam - Sapa
After a 10 hour overnight train from Hanoi, mf girlfriend and I arrive in Lao Cai the nearest major town to Sapa. It was predawn and we were both too tired to barter so just went with the first minibus that was heading up into the mountain. Just under 2 hours later after zigzagging around through heavy fog and low cloud we arrive in Sapa.
The temperature is just a few above 0 and we are both under prepared clothing wise :huh . Its damp cold and a little myserious with the low cloud only giving you a glimpse of your surroundings.
This is the view from the balcony of our hotel. A few minutes later it was gone again.
After a sleep under a electric blanket and a hot breakfast it was time for an explore of town.
The local markets, the level above and right was all clothing.
Anyone need a heart starter... Snake wine, usually about 70-80% alcohol!
Sapa is well known for all the surrounding minority tribes that use town as a place to trade with other tribes as well as us tourists.
Walking some buffalo to the markets from Cat Cat village
These 3 girls wanted me to buy jewellery, when I said I wasn't shopping today as my girlfriend was unwell, they gave me 2 bracelets to give her free of charge. I later agreed to meet these 3 the following day and buy something from them.
They're such beautiful people you can't help but buy stuff just to get a photo.
In the evenings when the temps drop a little lower the fog and rain settle in.
Its very atmospheric since without the street lights you really could just wonder around with no bearings whatsoever.
The following day we visited the closest village, which is about a 3 hour round trip.
2 local ladies joined us for the walk explaining about there way of life and the villages they were from. At the end of the walk we did buy a few presents from them as they were better than any official guide.
The actuall villages is spread out down the hill side below
At the bottom of the hill all the stream joined up and tumbled gracefully over the rocks. I tried for a slow water shot, without a tripod.
On our last day in Sapa the clouds appeared to clear enough for me to race up to the radio tower and a hopefully view of the whole area.
You can just see the peak and radio mast in the top right.
I took shots from every vantage point on the way up in case the clouds rolled in and I lost my view. This is about half way up.
The path up was lined with all sorts of plants and there was a full nursery and exotic plant display at about 2 thirds height.
From the radio tower the view wasn't as good as I hoped but I could see another high point and had a better view.
You could also see the garden display below.
Selling hats near the garden pictured above.
Back in town before we left, while my girlfriend sent an email I played with my zoom lens getting some none posed shots of the locals.
Now it was time to hop back on the mini bus and back down the mountains and back on our overnight train to Hanoi. The bus was too crammed to get my camera out and it was too dark when we arrived at the train station.
Time to move on, next stop Hoi An
Feel free to drop a comment or critique on anything above :thumb
The temperature is just a few above 0 and we are both under prepared clothing wise :huh . Its damp cold and a little myserious with the low cloud only giving you a glimpse of your surroundings.
This is the view from the balcony of our hotel. A few minutes later it was gone again.
After a sleep under a electric blanket and a hot breakfast it was time for an explore of town.
The local markets, the level above and right was all clothing.
Anyone need a heart starter... Snake wine, usually about 70-80% alcohol!
Sapa is well known for all the surrounding minority tribes that use town as a place to trade with other tribes as well as us tourists.
Walking some buffalo to the markets from Cat Cat village
These 3 girls wanted me to buy jewellery, when I said I wasn't shopping today as my girlfriend was unwell, they gave me 2 bracelets to give her free of charge. I later agreed to meet these 3 the following day and buy something from them.
They're such beautiful people you can't help but buy stuff just to get a photo.
In the evenings when the temps drop a little lower the fog and rain settle in.
Its very atmospheric since without the street lights you really could just wonder around with no bearings whatsoever.
The following day we visited the closest village, which is about a 3 hour round trip.
2 local ladies joined us for the walk explaining about there way of life and the villages they were from. At the end of the walk we did buy a few presents from them as they were better than any official guide.
The actuall villages is spread out down the hill side below
At the bottom of the hill all the stream joined up and tumbled gracefully over the rocks. I tried for a slow water shot, without a tripod.
On our last day in Sapa the clouds appeared to clear enough for me to race up to the radio tower and a hopefully view of the whole area.
You can just see the peak and radio mast in the top right.
I took shots from every vantage point on the way up in case the clouds rolled in and I lost my view. This is about half way up.
The path up was lined with all sorts of plants and there was a full nursery and exotic plant display at about 2 thirds height.
From the radio tower the view wasn't as good as I hoped but I could see another high point and had a better view.
You could also see the garden display below.
Selling hats near the garden pictured above.
Back in town before we left, while my girlfriend sent an email I played with my zoom lens getting some none posed shots of the locals.
Now it was time to hop back on the mini bus and back down the mountains and back on our overnight train to Hanoi. The bus was too crammed to get my camera out and it was too dark when we arrived at the train station.
Time to move on, next stop Hoi An
Feel free to drop a comment or critique on anything above :thumb
May I take your picture?
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Comments
Cuong
Thanks Cuong. I have posted the other parts i've just been lazy in adding more
Part 1 - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=89152
Part 2 - http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=89488
and I just added a collection of panorama's from this trip as well
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=95716
Haven't been anywhere north of Hue yet. Sort of hard to do when visiting the wifes family. But we're planning on getting to SaPa and Ha Long Bay sometime on one of our many more visits. Thanks for posting the journey to give me the fix till I make it there!
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Cuong
If you changed your mine let me know, I have a bottle sitting in the closet. Mine has a cobra with a scorpion hanging out of it's mouth. Also purchased another bottle for a friend this last trip.
Um... no I do not plan on trying it.
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~sparky~
Sparkyphotography.net
This is the part of Vietnam I missed out when I went there, but I shall have to return one day, as it looks amazing.
Thanks Colfragless and Spagbag, Sapa is well worth the journey thats for sure, it was one of my favourite places in Vietnam.
beautiful images of an even more gorgeous part of Vietnam. We just came from Vietnam and Sapa was one of my favorite places.
It's great to see this part (and other parts) of Vietnam in your photos. I've just posted some photos of my own if your interested
Thanks for reminding me about a great place!
Thanks for the comments ChrissieBeez, it looks like you ran into a few familiar faces in Sapa, I'll be looking back at your gallery regularily now for new updates, looks like you had a fun trip too
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